Guy Fawkes and Greenland Paddles

Friday the 5th November was Guy Fawkes Night which meant that last night was the Rotary Club bonfire and fireworks display.  For anyone not in the UK, here’s a Wikipedia link to what it’s all about.The Bonfire    Fireworks  Fireworks

Earlier in the day, Mackayak and I planned our progressive pool training schema so that we could get it up on the OSKA website and let participants know what to expect.  I have recently been allowed to edit the training and coaching pages so I thought I better do something!

In the afternoon Mackayak and I reconvened at Scapa for a bit canoe practice, however, Mackayak decided she missed her sea boat too much so left me to canoe myself.  Greenland practice

I pootled about in the canoe for a while thinking about different paddle lengths and also tried to work on paddling on my left side.  I wasn’t out for long, maybe an hour or so, but I really felt I had achieved something with my time, feeling far more comfortable on the left.  Maybe this was because there was very little wind for a change?Did you bring the instruction manual?   How not to canoe

After a while, we thought we would go on an exciting ‘journey’ from the south side of the pier to the north side.  On our travels we came across a friend with his home made Greenland paddle.  It was really nicely made, although one would hope so given his career!

Oooh, Greenland paddle!             

By this point, the water and air had been declared as blooming cold so there was a lack of enthusiasm for getting wet.  However, we were very keen to have a Greenland rolling demonstration so our friend duly obliged.  I was then offered a shot in the green boat, which I have never tried.  Feeling enthusiastic due to my new drysuit seals and with renewed confidence having achieved some pool session goals, I thought I would try a roll with the GP paddle too.